This thesis is a collection of three articles in applied economics that explore food security and social cohesion among population affected by violence and forced displacement. Chapter II aims at quantifying the effect of violent conflict on food security and dietary quality in Iraq. Specifically, I estimate the effect of physical insecurity on caloric availability and household dietary diversity by using an instrumental variable (IV) approach. Results show that conflict has a positive (negative) effect of on per capita caloric availability (household dietary diversity). The direction of this relationship, although seemingly counterintuitive, is unsurprising given Iraq’s relatively high-income levels and large public food distribution system. Overall, the results suggest that, for countries transitioning to diets high in calories and fat, violent conflict may drive the population towards an unhealthier diet and may thus contribute to the nation’s growing prevalence of nutrition-related non-communicable diseases. In the third Chapter, I use a household dietary diversity score and a food consumption score to measure the effect of structural and physical Israeli settler violence on Palestinian food security in the occupied West Bank. In doing so, I employ a novel instrumental variable which correlates with settlement proximity while remaining exogenous to other confounders. According to the main results, both the presence of settlements and the insecurity they generate have a statistically significant negative effect on food security via continuous violence against Palestinians and their properties. This finding is further supported by a supplemental analysis of two potential underlying mechanisms: access to water and commuting time to the closest food market. The last empirical article in Chapter IV assesses the impact of the Education Program for Syrian Refugees and Host Communities (BILSY) implemented in Turkey. BILSY relied on positive contact to enhance trust and reciprocity among Syrian and Turkish children. Exploiting a unique primary data on Syrian and Turkish children, we1 investigate whether the BILSY program was effective in promoting social cohesion (altruism and trust) among them by running both dictator and trust games. The sample for the study is drawn from the BILSY program participants and it comprises 685 individuals of Turkish and Syrian background aged between 6 and 11 years old. Since all the participants received the treatment at some point, we randomized the time of interview, namely before or after receiving the treatment. We relied on the short length of the activities implemented to mimic a randomized control trial. Our results show that the program does not significantly affect the participants’ decisions during the games, neither towards children of different nationality, nor toward other fellow citizens.

Objective. The purpose of this study is to describe the effects of a food pantry program on household food security, diet and health during COVID-19 in the greater New York City area and to understand the facilitators and barriers to accessing this vital safety-net program. Methods. This study employed a three-stage design to evaluate clinical-community food pantry program, known as the Food FARMacy program, implemented to address food insecurity in New York City. Through this program three community organizations recruited participants to receive 40 pounds of fresh produce, whole grains, beans, rice and protein on a bi-weekly basis. Analysis one was a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data to understand food security, diet, and health in those registering for the Food FARMacy program. Analysis two was a longitudinal pre-post analysis comparing baseline data with 6-month follow-up data to determine the effects of food pantry participation on food security, diet, and health. Analysis three was a qualitative case study with program participants to understand their experience participating in the program, including key facilitators and barriers to participating in a food pantry program during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data Analysis. For analysis one, descriptive statistics were used to report demographic, food security, diet and health characteristics upon program enrollment. X² tests and independent t-tests as well as multivariable regression models were used to examine predictors of very low food security status and food security score at enrollment. For analysis two, Wilcoxon signed rank and McNemar’s tests were used to identify changes in food security, diet, and health from baseline to six-months follow-up. Regression models were built to examine the association between attendance and food security status. For analysis three, a subset of 24 participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview format to understand their lived experience with the program and barriers and facilitators to participating. Results. Through this program, 492 participants were enrolled from July 2020 to April 2021 and provided with fresh, healthy food and beverages on a twice monthly basis. The majority of the enrollees reported low (42.3%) or very low (45.5%) food security status. At 6-months follow-up, the percent of those reporting very low food security status improved significantly from 45.5% to 13.2% (p < .001). Further, fruit intake two or more times per day increased from 23.7 to 35.1%, and the percent of those reporting no fruit intake decreased from 36.6 to 15.4% (p < .001). Vegetable intake two or more times in the previous day also increased from 21.5 to 41.8%, with the percent of those consuming no vegetables in the previous day declining from 32.6 to 13.2% (p < .001). The percent drinking two or more SSBs in the previous day decreased from 23.1 to 9.5% (p < .001). The percent of participants reporting excellent, very good or good health increased from 52.3 to 60.0%, while the percent reporting fair or poor health decreased from 48 to 40% from baseline to six-months follow-up (p = .017). Qualitative analysis revealed that participants valued the fresh, high-quality food that they could prepare themselves and caring customer service provided through the program. Transportation and access to childcare were reported as intermittent barriers to accessing the pantry program. Overall, participants reported very positive experiences with the program and improvements were noted in food security, diet, and health from baseline to 6-months follow-up. Conclusions. Effective and sustainable solutions are needed to curb household food insecurity. Rapid development and implementation of an emergency food pantry program through an integrated healthcare system and community organization partnership was feasible and effectively reached high-need patients and community members. Pantry programs can be an effective mechanism for addressing disparities in food access and diet among vulnerable populations.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001-2002 were used to examine demographic factors and BMI as it related to household food security status of women 16-85 years of age. Four designations were used to classify households: fully food secure, marginally food secure, food insecure without hunger, and food insecure with hunger. Significant relationships exist between food security and age, education, ethnicity, poverty income ratio and BMI. Women from food insecure households with hunger were at greater risk of becoming overweight. Households of compromised food security status most likely had an income between 0-130% of the poverty level. Women in households at 100-130% of the poverty level had a higher risk of obesity/morbid obesity. The more years of education women completed, the less risk they had for overweight and food insecurity. Women under 40 had a higher risk of marginal food security and food insecurity without hunger.

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